Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen Statement on the President’s Executive Order

WASHINGTON – Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) released the following statement concerning President Obama’s executive order on immigration:

“As President Obama has stated, ‘I am President of the United States, not the Emperor of the United States.’ He further stated that acting unilaterally is ‘ignoring the law in a way that I believe would be very difficult to defend legally.’ Now, the President says he has the authority to stop deportations. It begs the question – why did President Obama deport more than two million people, dividing families, when according to him, it could have been avoided?” stated Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen.

“While we agree on the merits of some of the announced measures,” continued Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen, “the President’s executive order makes it more difficult to pass a commonsense solution to our country’s broken immigration system. We continue to believe that we must find a bipartisan, legislative solution to strengthen our borders, offer a permanent and humane solution to those living in the shadows, adhere to the rule of law, modernize our antiquated visa system, and bolster the economy. None of this is accomplished by the President’s executive order.”

“Shortly after this year’s election, President Obama said he was willing to work together with the new Congress. He has now clearly demonstrated that he has no intention of doing so. His actions will unfortunately further divide our country.  We are committed to finding a bipartisan, legislative solution that will unite a majority of Congress and the American people on this critical issue,” said Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen.

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